Monday, October 24, 2005

Let me begin by saying my thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by Hurricane Wilma both in Mexico and in Florida. I'm sure there are those who are going through extreme difficulties right now because of Wilma, and while I thank God for my blessings, I pray that he blesses you in the future.

I am happy to report that Wilma was significantly better here than I expected. It came ashore about 200 miles south of me, with tropical storm force winds (30-60 miles/hour) extending this far off. It made landfall this morning around 7:00 a.m. as a Category 3 hurricane. While this is a very serious weather event, I thank God that it wasn't the monster that Wilma was in my last post about her, nor the goliath the wreaked havoc on the Yucatan Peninsula.

To be honest, the effects here were minimal and bearable. Windy, rainy, and strangely cold because of a cold front that hit just barely ahead of the hurricane. Fortunately this cold front seems to have assisted in weakening and shifting this hurricane. Overall the only signs of the hurricane was an abnormal amount of wave action on the bridge I cross to get to work. 4-6 feet waves on a body of water where just white tipped waves are abnormal. I also saw a few branches blown down and one road sign snapped in half. The latter was probably caused by a small tornado (as we've been under a tornado watch since last night).

As I type this I've heard that there is only 1 death so far, but the hurricane is just now hitting the east coast. I'm also hearing that the Miami and Florida Keys area is taking a pounding and won't know how bad it is for a little while. I pray for the friends I have in that area that they are safe and will recover from any sort of hardships caused by Wilma.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

I have always known that God has blessed me more than others in the realm of written communication. I wrote my first short story at 8 and, after winning a competition at my school with it, got to present it at a local writing convention. I got my first poem published at 14. And now I have had my first play that I have written recognized as being one of the best in my Introduction to Theater class, being one of the three plays chosen out of my class of about 30.

I say none of this to brag or to boast, for I know that not only do none of these accolades make me a better person than anyone else, but more importantly I know that none of these talents that I have originate within me. I label them as they are: gifts of God above.

My play is entitled "The Reluctant Soldier" and is more of what my professor refers to as a "playlet" than a traditional play (seeing as it is only about thirteen pages long and could probably be acted out in 15 minutes realistically). I will try to get a link up to it as soon as I can, so that I can share it with others who would be interested.

This does make me slightly excited though. I now have to direct some other students of my class in it. I don't want to sound "hollywood" or trite, but I want to make sure that my artistic vision of the play is reproduced accurately. I will have to make sure I walk the fine line of firm about what I want and being a dictator to people who essentially have virtually no choice to work on my play. I pray that God guides me through this time to have patience and wisdom.

Hurricane Wilma scares me. When I was a younger and (unsurprisingly) more foolish young man, I used to joke about how hurricanes were no big deal. My running joke was I had slept through more hurricanes than most people had seen in their lifetime. While this was true in a way, only one of them was ever anything close to a direct hit. After last year when I had 3 hurricanes come within a short distance of hitting me (and my old school , Florida Christian College where I was living at the time, suffered great damage) I realized that these weren't things to celebrate, to use as an excuse to get off of work or to throw a party for. These were real, destructive forces. The line that turned the period on the end of that thought into an exclamation mark came when Hurricane Katrina ravaged, raped, and destroyed the Upper Gulf Coast area in general, and New Orleans, LA in particular.

Now we are faced with a hurricane that's a record setter. Most intense hurricane on record. A record tying 21st named storm in an Atlantic season. A record tying 12th hurricane in a season. Not to mention that this is the third Category 5 hurricane this season (and I should not need to remind you what the previous two, Katrina and Rita, did in terms of damage). This is the equivalent of 3 serious earthquakes hitting the west coast. Wow.

Right now it looks like Wilma is going to hit south of me, but that's still too close for comfort, especially since I'm still very much within that projected path "cone." I will try to keep those who read this updated on info as far as if I have to evacuate.

Please join me in prayer for all those who have been, are being, and will be affected by this hurricane. May God be with us all.

This is my new blog. I hope to keep it updated fairly consitently this time. I started it up here since my www.blog.com account doesn't seem to be linked to any email account I can recollect. Look here for some exciting news in the next little while.

About Me

I am a husband, father, employee, and (above all) a follower of Christ. I have only been a Christian for a few years now (since 2002) and love sharing the radical transformation I've gone through in life to those who are willing to listen. Any questions about me or info you want to see here? IM or email me.